Family
by Nanya
Summary: Follow-up to "Relationships". Co-written with RadiantBeam. It's Fate's turn to explain things to her family, however, she may have to explain a little more than she originally thought.


Co-written with RadiantBeam

Disclaimer: We own nothing.

Note: This is a follow-up to the story "Relationships". It's now Fate's turn to tell her family.

* * *

"Fate-chan?" Lindy smiled at her daughter, who was hugging Arf. "How are you?"

"I am fine, mother." Fate smiled at her, her smile widened, a bit, as she saw Chrono and Amy walk into the room.

"So, Fate..." Amy smiled as she sat down with her husband. "What's up?"

"Well... I'm in a relationship with Nanoha..."

"Thought so..." Chrono muttered, he could stick THAT into the ferret's face next time he saw Yuuno.

"And Yuuno."

You could have confused Chrono with a statue at that moment. If he got any more stiff the wall would have been jealous.

"I told you this was a bad idea..." Yuuno's voice spoke up from the entry way.

"Oh, come on, Yuuno-kun, it's not that bad..." Nanoha's voice was trying to soothe him.

"I'm still at the entry. I could start running. If I get a good head-start, he'll never catch me."

"Don't be such a baby." Amused, Nanoha grabbed Yuuno's hand, giving it a comforting squeeze as she led him into the room.

"I'm not being a baby. I'm being reasonably concerned for my well-being. Chrono likes you. You're female."

"And you're male, and one of the people Fate-chan loves." Nanoha had to resist the urge to laugh. "Don't worry. We'll protect you."

Lindy looked at her son, he was still a bit out of it. Smiling, she put a hand over her mouth, mostly to keep herself from laughing loudly. _I win the bet_. She thought to herself.

"Fate..." Arf looked up at her master.

"Yes, Arf?"

The little wolf-girl smiled lightly. "Are you happy with them?" She wouldn't care, Yuuno was a great friend and that library wouldn't be anywhere near as neat without him around.

Fate smiled slightly; just knowing that Yuuno and Nanoha were nearby was enough to warm her. "Yes," she said simply.

Arf thought about it for a minute or two before she nodded, stepping up to her master. "Then it's okay with me," she said. "As long as you're happy, Fate." She grinned. "Besides, I like Yuuno just as much as I like Nanoha. You know how the saying goes; it's always the quiet ones."

Chrono made an odd kind of choking noise at that; Fate blushed, and Lindy snickered helplessly, still fighting back her laughter.

"We're here." Nanoha all but sang it as she stepped into the room, leading Yuuno by the hand.

"Nanoha!" Amy smiled and grinned at the two. "Ha! I knew you'd get together with Yuuno. I didn't expect you to get with Fate as well though."

Chrono finally rebooted his brain and twitched, looking at Yuuno. "Ferret-boy..."

"Oh, calm down, Chrono!" Amy smacked his shoulder. "You were younger than they were when we got together."

"Amy, it's the duty and privilege of an older brother to beat up on the guy that's sleeping with his sister."

"Told you." Yuuno whispered to Nanoha.

Fate frowned at Chrono. "Brother..."

Blinking, Chrono looked at Fate, his eyes widening as he paled. She had NEVER frowned at him before. What made it worse was the fact that he KNEW she had a temper. It just took her awhile before she lost it.

"I love Nanoha. I love Yuuno. I'm not going to let you hurt either of them."

"Fate, Chrono, both of you, calm down." Lindy spoke up, getting them both to look at her. "Fate, you're old enough to make your own decisions... If you had come to us when you were sixteen or something, then I'd be worried about this. And Chrono, you really don't have room to talk, okay?"

"Mother..." Chrono sighed and slumped. "Sorry, just hard to imagine my little sister doing **that**..."

"Now you know how I felt when I realized the same thing about you," Fate mumbled.

Yuuno hesitated only a moment before clearing his throat. "In my defense," he began, "I'd like to point out that I didn't start any of it."

Nanoha gave her boyfriend a look that was positively naughty. "I didn't hear you complaining."

"I'm just saying. I didn't start it."

"Oh?" That got Lindy's attention; even if she'd won the bet, she was curious. "Who _did_ start it, then?"

A long pause.

After several seconds, Nanoha pointed at Fate.

"Oh, _come on_, Nanoha!"

Amy fell over, laughing. "HA HA HA! I thought, hee hee, that it would have, ha ha ha, been Nanoha that, ha ha ha, started it..." She rolled on the ground, kicking her legs up.

Lindy giggled. "Oh my..." She turned to Chrono. "This is your fault."

"How is it my fault?"

"You didn't lock the door that one time..."

Both Chrono and Fate blushed hard, Amy stopped laughing to glare, lightly, at her mother-in-law.

Lindy was silent, turn-around was fair play after all.

"That time had nothing to do with it!" Fate yelped. She hesitated. "All right, maybe... a little... but not much!"

"I'm not surprised," Arf sighed out. "Nanoha moves too slow."

"Hey!"

"What? It's true. It took you ten years to figure out they both liked you! Although..." Arf looked at Fate curiously. "I could be wrong.... they could just be in the relationship for you..."

The thought had Chrono glaring at Yuuno.

Lindy gallantly fought back her laughter. Oh, but this was priceless to watch.

"Eh? Arf, what?"

"Think about it, Fate..." Her familiar dragged out slowly. "You're strong, smart, one of the best looking women around... And you love to wear skimpy clothing... Most men and women would die just to have a chance to talk to you, never mind what those two do to you."

"Hey, I don't think of Fate that way!" Yuuno blurted out.

"Oh, so she's not good-looking?" Arf narrowed her eyes at him. Small or not, she'd beat him up if he hurt Fate's feelings. Maybe she'd bite his kneecaps off or something.

"I didn't say that!" Yuuno looked at Nanoha desperately. Mostly because he didn't want to look at Chrono.

"Come on, Arf, we're not in a relationship just because Fate started it..."

"Nanoha..." Fate pouted. Was she going to keep doing this EVERY time that it got brought up?

"We both love her. If it wasn't for her and Yuuno, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Obviously." Amy giggled.

"Ah... Bad choice of words... Nyahahahaha..." Nanoha laughed nervously.

Lindy smirked. "I'm rather curious, actually..."

"Yes?"

"How did Fate start it? Knowing my daughter, she's usually not the type to make the first move, so she must have been at least a little tipsy."

The trio flushed scarlet at that.

"We were drunk," Yuuno muttered. "I actually wasn't so bad, they suddenly felt the need to come to my rescue."

"You were tripping over your own feet." Nanoha giggled at the memory. "I thought about it, but I wasn't drunk enough to take advantage of you. Fate-chan, on the other hand..."

Fate groaned as Arf and Chrono both stared at her.

"Yuuno looked so cute like that..." Fate muttered, her face attempting to light up the house by itself. "I... Couldn't help it."

Arf giggled. "You always had a weakness for cute things."

"Hmmm..." Amy looked at Yuuno speculatively.

"Wh...What?"

"I wonder..." A wry grin came to her face. "So, Yuuno... You've got two beauties as girlfriends..."

"Yeah..." He wondered where she was going with this.

"It must be rather fun in the bedroom."

"Amy!"

"What?" She blinked at her husband.

"I know my sister's in a relationship, I don't exactly want the details..."

"Then you can leave and let us talk about it." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Mom..."

Lindy giggled. "Actually, I'm quite curious myself, and there's still shopping to be done. Make yourself scarce, Chrono; better yet, take Yuuno with you."

Yuuno gulped.

Amy grinned. "And I know you want to," she teased. "But don't hurt him. I hate to say it, but Nanoha and Fate seem pretty fond of him."

He sighed and stood up. "Fine... Come on, Ferret..." He grabbed the back of Yuuno's shirt and dragged him out of the room.

"Chrono!" Nanoha stood up suddenly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt him..." Wouldn't stop him from grilling him and making his life miserable though.

Nanoha looked like she was about to go after them to keep Chrono from hurting Yuuno but she felt a tug on her sleeve. Looking down, she saw Fate, smiling at her. "Chrono won't hurt him if he said he wouldn't." Besides, she'd have to hurt Chrono then and that would upset the rest of her family, so she knew that he wouldn't do that.

"Fate?"

"Yes, Arf?"

"What's it like in the bedroom then?" She asked with a smirk. Such a question really seemed wrong coming from a young-looking familiar.

"Arf!"

"What? Come on, I'm curious!" Arf blinked innocently. "All this time, Fate, I was worried that you'd never be able to fully enjoy a normal, loving relationship with people your own age..."

As expected, Fate wilted. Arf had always been good at that. She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well, it's, ah..." She looked at Nanoha, who looked torn between helping her and racing after Chrono and Yuuno. "It's very... interesting. Nanoha and Yuuno are... very different lovers."

"Oh?" Amy wriggled her brows.

Nanoha smirked. "She's saying sometimes I'm too fast and rough, while Yuuno is usually so gentle it's sinful."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Lindy shook her head. "I'd be more surprised if Fate was more aggressive."

"Mama..." Fate tried to fight down a blush as Lindy giggled.

"What? Even when you were reckless, you were always so reserved, but you always made the first move."

Arf hugged Fate, her tail waggling behind her happily. "I'm glad though."

"Huh?" Fate blinked as she hugged Arf back.

"You were always trying to distance yourself. I'm glad that Yuuno and Nanoha got you to stop."

"Actually, Yuuno gets the credit there," Nanoha admitted. She smiled slightly at the memory. "The morning after was..."

"... Incredibly awkward," Fate mumbled. "For me, at least."

Lindy looked at her daughter curiously. "Awkward?"'

"She tried to run," Nanoha said, amused when Fate blushed brilliantly. "It was Yuuno who made us sit down and actually talk about what had happened."

Amy lifted a brow. "Ferret boy's got guts when it counts."

"Do you blame me?" Fate said, her face still scarlet.

Lindy smiled and shook her head. "I'm glad that Yuuno stopped you..."

"So am I." Nanoha smiled and moved next to Fate, hugging her. "She was squirming and apologizing..."

"I would have run..." Fate said softly.

"Yuuno and I wouldn't have let you." Nanoha smirked at her. "We would have tracked you down wherever you went and drug you back kicking and screaming."

Amy giggled. "I can just imagine Fate in all sorts of bindings being dragged back and people watching."

"So, how did Yuuno keep you there anyway?" Arf smiled at them.

"Held me by my waist so tightly that I couldn't move without hurting him and said that we needed to talk."

"That's all?" Lindy blinked in slight surprise, most of the time it wasn't the man that suggested the need to talk.

"Well, that and he said that he cared about me a lot." Fate admitted, smiling softly at the memory.

Amy sighed. "Yuuno's always been straight-forward about that kind of stuff. Even when he was a kid, he followed you two with hearts in his eyes."

Her description was enough to make Nanoha blush now. The brunette cleared her throat. "You should have seen Fate-chan's face when he said that," she said. "She went totally still."

"I couldn't process it." Fate's voice was soft. "I thought he was still drunk."

Lindy laughed softly. "Trust our Fate to immediately jump to denial when someone says they care for her."

"Thanks, Mom."

"So Yuuno grabbed Fate," Arf continued. "What were you doing, Nanoha?"

Nanoha grinned. "I didn't run, if that was what you're asking. I just sat there next to Yuuno-kun like a good girl while Fate-chan tried to get away. Yuuno-kun is strong when he needs to be."

Fate smiled. "Oh, yeah."

"So, you've been together for a couple of months now..." Lindy looked at the two of them seriously. "Have you two given serious thought about your future together and with Yuuno?"

The two were silent for awhile. "Nanoha's parents wanted us to get married right away."

"And you? Do you want to get married to my daughter, Nanoha?"

"Well, yes, but... Can that be done?" Nanoha blinked in confusion.

"Isn't marriage for two people?" Fate asked. "I mean, we kind of figured we never would because... I've never heard of three people getting married."

Lindy blinked thoughtfully, pondering the idea. "It's rare," she confessed. "Very rare to meet three people who want to get married." She paused. "You want to get married, right?"

"If there was a way, then yes!"

"I could check the library," Arf offered. "I'm sure the records would say something about marriage."

"Good idea." Amy looked at the clock. "Speaking of three, your third lover is still notably absent..."

"I hope Chrono's not hurting him..." Nanoha muttered and looked at the door worriedly.

Lindy clapped her hands together and smiled. "Well, I'm sure that Chrono won't hurt his prospective brother-in-law too much..."

"Are you sure?" Nanoha looked at her, her eyes full of hope.

"He's mellowed out a lot." Amy smiled. "Besides, I can't wait to see my cute nieces and nephews." She blinked as both Fate and Nanoha went stiff. "Was it something I said?"

The understanding hit Lindy in a flash; the smile that came afterwards was slow. "Amy," she said casually, "why don't you and Arf go look for Yuuno and Chrono? I doubt the girls would appreciate it if Chrono tried to kill their possible future husband."

Amy blinked in confusion, but shrugged. "All right, whatever you want. Come on, Arf."

Arf shot Lindy a suspicious look, not buying her act for a second; but the older woman smiled reassuringly at her, and after a moment or two the small wolf-girl followed Amy outside, leaving Lindy alone with Fate and Nanoha.

"So..." The smile on her mother's face wasn't exactly reassuring. "What did you want to talk about, mother?"

"I doubt you three have been using any safe sex practices... And while I don't doubt that you three will take responsibility, I wonder if you're ready for it."

"Ah, what makes you think..." Nanoha stopped at the knowing look that Lindy gave her.

"Believe me, I know." Lindy studied the two young women for a moment. "Seeing you with Vivio, I've no doubt the two of you will make excellent mothers."

"Yuuno-kun is good with Vivio, too," Nanoha murmured, more as a note to herself than as a way of defending the man.

Lindy had to resist the urge to smile as Fate nodded. "Have you told him?" she asked.

"Ahh... Not yet..." Fate admitted with a blush. "Been dropping some hints but..."

"We're a little worried that he might get scared." Nanoha admitted and rubbed her thumbs together. She wasn't used to being so unsure. "Yuuno-kun's a good person, but..."

"Hard to admit, huh?" Lindy nodded and shook her head. "I had the same problem telling my husband about Chrono..."

"Really?"

"Well, I was rather young at the time." Lindy admitted with a smile.

"How young?"

"Oh, about your age..."

Nanoha and Fate both blinked at that. Seeing their expressions, Lindy couldn't help but laugh.

"Yuuno is an excellent man," she said. "I'm sure he'll handle the news beautifully; in his own way." She smiled. "Men tend to get funny looks on their faces when you tell them you're pregnant with their child."

Both of them flushed brilliantly at that. "We should tell him..."

Fate nodded. "Well, Shamal did want you to take some time off... I'll have to put some leave in as well."

Nanoha nodded, though she did wish that she had taken time off voluntarily instead of needing to.

Lindy had the biggest smile on her face. "I'm going to be a grandmother again..." She giggled and got up before hugging them. "You do need to tell him. The longer you put it off, the more stress you'll put on yourselves."

Fate smiled and hugged her mother, relishing in the comfort she felt from the gesture. It was a simple gesture, but it still made her feel so relaxed and loved, even after all this time.

Fate hesitated only a minute. "Mom?"

"Hmmm?"

"How did Chrono's father react?"

"When I told him?" Lindy smiled at the memory. "I had to repeat myself. He froze for five seconds or so, and the wonder on his face made him look like a child again. It's one of my fondest memories of him."

Nanoha and Fate exchanged a quiet look just as Amy glided into the room.

"We found Chrono," she said easily. "Amazingly, he didn't attempt to murder Yuuno while they were out. I think he passed the test, but I left Arf with them for the time being since I don't completely trust them alone."

Nanoha visibly relaxed as she heard that. She smiled at Amy in thanks. "Still, Fate-chan... When should we..?"

The blond was silent, very silent, as she thought about it. "We should as soon as possible..." There was a distinct nervousness in her voice.

"...I haven't been told anything." Yuuno's voice spoke up as he walked into the living room. "We're back." He said, smiling as he held groceries, a lot of groceries. Arf was holding a few smaller packages and Chrono had two bags on his arms.

"Chrono..." Nanoha frowned at him lightly. "Don't tell me you made Yuuno-kun carry all the groceries?"

Yuuno shrugged as he made his way to the kitchen. "These are light. You should try to lift some of the books that he forces me to find at that library."

"You make it sound like I'm a slave driver."

"And you aren't?" Arf muttered following Yuuno into the kitchen.

"Hey, I'm just doing my job." Chrono grumbled. It wasn't his fault that he needed information from the library and he only really trusted Yuuno to get him accurate information.

Amy smirked. "Those bags are his reason for not killing Yuuno before they got home."

"Hey." Chrono frowned at that. "I was good. He's in one piece, isn't he?"

"I saw the way you were looking at him, Chrono. You were contemplating how easy it'd be to reach over and snap his neck."

The thought had Fate and Nanoha protectively stepping around Yuuno, even as Chrono groaned. "No, Amy, I wasn't," he muttered. "Look, I talked to him, okay? That's all."

"He was very friendly." Willing to help out Chrono, feeling sorry for him for once, Yuuno couldn't help chiming in. "In his own Chrono-esque kind of way. He only threatened to kill me once."

Fate glared at her brother.

"In my defense, I'd like to say that it was a very quick, very painless way of dying," Chrono grumbled.

Lindy sighed.

It was nice that Chrono was willing to protect his younger sister, but he was going a little overboard, in her opinion. "Son... Come with me for a moment."

Chrono blinked and sweated lightly. He hadn't heard that tone in her voice in a long time.

Arf, Amy and Fate could only blink in both confusion and awe.

"Yuuno-kun..." Nanoha whispered to her male lover. "We need to talk." She sighed. "Fate-chan and I need to tell you something."

Yuuno could only blink in confusion. "Uh... Sure."

Amy's eyebrows went up and stayed up when the trio left the room. She knew that tone. "Oh, oh," she murmured.

Arf blinked. "What?"

Chrono frowned. "Why are they--?"

To distract him, Lindy laid a hand on his shoulder and calmly guided him out of the room. After a moment of contemplation, Amy grabbed Arf. "Come on," she said. "Let's give them some privacy."

"Why?" Arf began to squirm as Amy pulled her along. "What's going on? Is something bad going to happen?"

"Depends on Yuuno's reaction," Amy muttered under her breath.

"Well..." Nanoha muttered as she helped put away the groceries. "Yuuno-kun... You're a good father to Vivio..."

"Nanoha?" He blinked at her, though he was happy that she thought he was a good father for Vivio.

"And I'd like to think that you would have been a good father for Caro and Erio..." Fate continued, though there was an undercurrent of nervousness in her tone. Now that Yuuno looked at them, they looked like they were walking on egg-shells around him.

"Okay, what's wrong?" Yuuno stopped putting away groceries to look at them seriously. "You two are the least nervous people I know. Fate might be shy and get embarrassed easily and Nanoha might not like to burden others with her own problems, but I know that you two are not nervous."

"..."

"..."

"Yuuno-kun..." Nanoha began.

"...We're both pregnant with your child..." Fate finished.

For a moment, Yuuno seemed to freeze and go completely blank. His face, his eyes, showed no emotion as he stared at the two women before him.

Fate and Nanoha exchanged nervous looks, but otherwise kept silent, waiting.

Yuuno blinked, and the shock came first; naturally enough, considering two women were pregnant right now, not one. The shock faded quickly enough on its own as his mind clicked it all together, and to replace it was...

Wonder. Almost like a little kid that had walked in on Santa putting presents under the tree. Joy mingled with the wonder, and Yuuno couldn't keep it out of his voice. "Pregnant?" he repeated. "You... both? Our kids?"

Nanoha visibly relaxed. "Yeah," she whispered. "Our kids."

"Our kids," Yuuno repeated softly. The next instant he whooped and pulled Fate and Nanoha into his arms, kissing them both deeply.

(---)

"Mother?" Chrono blinked as he saw Lindy visibly relax.

"Let's just say that Yuuno proved my point to your sister." She smiled softly. "As for you, Chrono, I highly suggest that you don't threaten Yuuno, you don't overwork Yuuno and you don't try to keep Yuuno away from either Nanoha or Fate for the next few years."

He blinked at her. "But, mother, what do you..."

"It wouldn't be fair to my grandchildren." She smirked at him as he blinked and realization dawned on his face. "Chrono, you will not go out there and try to harm him. Your sister is carrying his child and he is rather happy about that."

He sighed and nodded. "I know. Fate's old enough that she can make responsible choices on her own. I just... She's still my little sister... I can still recall how nervous and jittery she was for awhile after dealing with Precia..." He trailed off, sighing heavily. "She's come a long way, but still..."

"I know." Lindy nodded. "I doubt Yuuno will deliberately do anything to hurt Fate or Nanoha but..."

Chrono smirked. "I'm pretty sure that Nanoha's brother and father would get first shot at him."

The two shared a small laugh at that.

* * *

Notes: This, being a follow-up to "Relationships", follows with the hint that was dropped in the that one by Fate, (Some of you may have missed that.) for the big revelation in this one.

As for the people complaining. I'm having fun co-writing this. It's not meant to be too serious.


End file.
